Stocks are rallying before fresh trade war talks between the US and China kick off

AP Images / Richard Drew

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Global stocks are rallying sharply Monday ahead of a busy week for markets in which investors are bracing for significant volatility.

With trade talks between Washington and Beijing kicking off Monday, as well as China’s markets reopening after a week off, it is set to be a busy week for stocks.

“We could expect to see more volatility this week as China returns from its week-long celebration of the Lunar New Year on top of plenty of data to watch, including growth figures from Germany,” Jasper Lawler, head of research at London Capital Group said in an email Monday morning, adding that the threat of a fresh US government shutdown further clouds the picture for equities.

“Funding for the US government runs out on Friday February 15. The collapse of talks over the weekend between US Democrats and Republican lawmakers have raised fears that another US government shutdown could be on us in days,” he wrote.

Representatives from the Trump and Xi administrations began talks in Beijing on Monday, with the aim of making progress towards a trade deal of some form before the 90 day deadline imposed at the G20 in Argentina late in 2018.

Talks will initially be conducted between relatively junior officials, before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer take over on Thursday and Friday.

Despite the hectic week ahead, investors seem calm Monday, with stocks in China jumping on their first day back after a break to celebrate Lunar New Year. European shares have followed suit, seeing substantial gains in the first hour of the week’s trading. US stocks also look set to climb when markets open stateside later in the day.

Here’s how things look just after 9.00 a.m. GMT (4.00 a.m. ET):

Chinese markets, which returned to trading after a long break for Lunar New Year, bounced Monday, with the Shenzhen Component index the biggest winner, gaining more than 3% on the day. Elsewhere, the Shanghai Composite gained 1.36%, while the China A50 was up 1.25%.

In Europe, all major share indexes are higher during morning trading, with gains generally close to, or above, 1%. Germany’s DAX has climbed 1.1% to start the week, despite upcoming GDP data which will confirm whether or not the country entered recession at the end of 2018.

Elsewhere in Europe, the FTSE 100 has rallied 0.98% in London, while the Euro Stoxx 50 broad index is 1.15% higher.

Futures point to a strong start to trading in the US later Monday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 set to open roughly 0.4% higher, and the Nasdaq looking at a 0.6% gain.

More:

US-China Trade War
Stocks
Government Shutdown 2019
U.S. economy

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